Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hi, everyone. I'm Blayne Alexander. And today we are talking Dateline. I'm here with my good friend, Dennis Murphy. Hi, Dennis. Hey, Blayne. How are you? I'm good. But we also have a special guest, the one and only Brad Davis, super producer here, who is really our resident expert on the case to talk about this sprawling family drama. Brad, thanks so much for joining us. Sure. Glad to be here.
Chapter 2: What is the background of the murder case involving Dan Markel?
If you haven't seen this episode, you can watch it on Peacock or listen to it on the Dateline podcast feed and then come right back here. But just a quick recap. When FSU law professor Dan Markell was shot in the garage of his home back in 2014, investigators uncovered a murder-for-hire plot that they say was orchestrated by his mother-in-law, Donna Adelson.
Now, 11 years after his murder, Donna's murder trial ended with a guilty verdict, making her the fifth person to be convicted in this case. The big question now, of course, will anyone else be charged? We'll discuss that during today's Talking Dateline. In this episode, we've also got an extra clip of Wendy Adelson testifying during her mother's trial.
And of course, later, we will take some of your questions from social media. All right, guys, let's talk Dateline. right? Okay. Of course, I've followed this case. I know the stories and the backstories and everything, but just watching this was so unbelievably fascinating to me, just how many people are involved in the killing of this one man. This has unfolded over more than a decade.
I just wonder what it's like following a case like this. I mean, that really seems to, you think both shoes have dropped and then yet there's another shoe and another shoe and things just kind of keep coming in this.
And Blaine, Brad and I are going back to the same courtroom in Tallahassee, Florida, every couple of years. And... We look at the tables to the right and the left of the prosecutor, same, or the same, but the defendants keep changing with different lawyers, and the years go by, and Ruth and Phil Markell, the parents of the murdered man, are still there, and you get a sense of the elapsed time.
But it always crookedly blames something Shakespearean about it, where there's a tragic flaw that brings down an entire family.
But first, I can't think of any other Dateline episode that begins with Wheel of Fortune. When that kicked off, I said, okay, where are we going with this one? And then to see that Donna Adelson was actually a Wheel of Fortune contestant, one, I was immediately jealous because that's one of my dreams is to be on Wheel of Fortune.
But secondly, to find that and then have what seemed to be almost the perfect puzzle. Mischief Maker was unbelievable. It provides this fantastic through line because I noticed, Brad and Dennis, in your writing that you wove Mischief Maker and making mischief throughout the script, throughout the entire two hours. And I just thought that that was brilliantly done.
That kind of a thing can wear out its welcome, but I think we got away with it.
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Chapter 3: Who are the key players in the murder-for-hire plot?
So we talk about Donna Adelson and all of your reporting on this case. I mean, how would you describe her? Who is this woman? Someone who puts on just a shiny veneer, but there's someone completely different underneath?
I think there is a shiny veneer. She's, you know, I think a lovely woman, you know, to meet her running the office at the dental practice, raising three very fine young children.
people you know as far as their professions and educational background um but the dark side of it is the control she's sort of like the ultimate controlling mother who you know helicopter helicopter parenting is one thing but this was like you know really in your face you know choosing dates for you to go on for wendy you know trying to do all sorts of things to control and uh it's
That's where her Achilles heel lies.
I mean, the signature for her defense is this phrase, she's a meddler, not a murderer. But there is evidence that she meddled in her children's lives for years and years and years.
And her grandchildren. She wants to control where her grandchildren are. She wants them to be with her. And that's, you know, if you go by what the prosecution has said, that's what this case has always been about.
And that's my Shakespearean flaw, this desire for control of all elements of your life in a very uncontrollable kind of world we live in.
One thing that really stuck out to me about this episode is that the video that we had was just incredible. I mean, from the interrogation video of Wendy to the bump video to the video inside Dolce Vita to all of this video that really came together to tell the story. I wonder if we could talk about that bump video a little bit more. Do we know why investigators targeted her and not Charlie?
That's a good question. I don't know the exact answer to it. I'd have to ask Georgia, the capitolman, the state prosecutor. But I think they felt like Donna would be sort of more open to sort of freaking out and being fearful and sort of doing something. Whereas Charlie might have been more confrontational. The ultimate goal is to get them chattering on, you know, the chatter on the wiretaps.
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Chapter 4: How did the trial of Donna Adelson unfold?
Let's talk about the other piece of video that I thought was very striking, which was that video of... Donna and Harvey preparing to board the flight to Vietnam.
I can watch that video over and over. And the tussle blame for her. Donna is holding out her phone, which is evidence. And the FBI agent, Pat Sanford, is reaching for it and grappling with it. And all of a sudden, it all happens in an enclosed space and she's cuffed and being walked in. It all happens. Brad, I get the feeling it's like a minute and a half on that jetway.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I was able to get a hold of that video. We were the first people to actually air the video, which toot our horn a little bit. But you could really see that and see like the craziness in that moment.
Had they gotten on that flight, had the plane actually taken off, it would have been a very different story.
I agree. As we know. It would be. We might have had to go to Vietnam. Who knows?
When we get back, Wendy Adelson will take the stand in her mother's murder trial, and she testifies about a phone call that she made to Donna sharing the news of Dan Markell's death.
So let's get into the trial.
And Brad, I know that you were there, faithfully. You reported it every week on Andrea's podcast, Dateline True Crime Weekly. This is now the fifth installment related to this case. What was it like there in the courtroom?
Well, it's actually very different than it was when I first started covering this because there's a lot of media, but there's also a lot of podcasts. The story has sort of taken on a life of its own. And I was struck by the fact that there are just so many more people. There are people flying in from
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Chapter 5: What role did witness testimonies play in the case?
So that in itself is a window into the dynamics of the family, that their approval was so important. And he defied it, ultimately.
For just the drama that here he is testifying against his mother in a capital murder, in a first-degree murder case, and tells the story, well, what was it, calling up after... After Harvey's birthday, I guess, and it was one of these, the news has been released, Mom, they've got the guys. They've got the two killers, and it's crickets on the phone. Donna will not engage.
And you couple that with that moment right after the murder where he is talking with his mother, and he's already talked to the FBI, and she's telling him, oh, by the way, honey, don't talk to the FBI if they call you. But he's already talked to them, and so he tells her that, and she's like, oh, well, you don't know anything anyway.
I mean, to me, that statement is as incriminating as anything else because, like, that implies that, oh, well, I know something.
I thought it was such strong testimony, Brad, that you could almost imagine Georgia Kappelman rising after he left the stand and say, Your Honor, the state rests. I mean, it was that devastating.
And in fact, you and I were both in the courtroom for it. And then I left the courtroom and I ran into Georgia, the prosecutor, and she just said, wow, after his testimony. And I'll always remember that. Another thing that they did was they... Wendy testified right before Rob, and Wendy was on the stand for a few hours. And as she was leaving the court...
Rob came in from the back and from a different entrance. And this was all to separate Wendy and Rob, who have not seen each other in years, or spoken. You know, you had all these members of this family in this courthouse. Charlie's in jail, you know, right by, ready to testify. You know, it was a very weird family reunion, to say the least.
Well, we've talked about every Adelson up to this point, except Wendy. I guess the first question, and this is probably the question many viewers have, and probably you too yourselves, will she face charges? I mean, she's seemingly the woman at the center of all of this.
Well, whatever we said about Wendy from here on out, we should boilerplate by saying that she has never been accused. She has always denied any involvement in any aspect of this plot. And that... So far, the state has not said whether they're going to go for her with a charge or not. But she has a fascinating, endless interest in the court of public opinion here.
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Chapter 6: What evidence was pivotal in convicting Donna Adelson?
Yeah. I mean, we actually included that little excerpt from the interrogation in our dateline. It goes by very quickly then where she says, you know, oh, well, my mom handled that pretty well. If you think about it, yes, it can be read a couple of different ways. But you listen to Donna Adelson talking and she says, what? What? On the phone when she hears this news. Mm-hmm.
But there's not a lot of other stuff coming from Donna at that point. She's not asking a lot of questions, to be honest.
Yeah, yeah. Let's talk about Donna's attorney. In her closing argument, I was struck by the fact that she pointed the finger at Charlie. She kind of pointed the finger at Wendy to point it away from Donna there.
I think the phrase is throw under the bus.
Yeah.
Right, which has been the pattern in these trials too, where everyone has been blaming someone else.
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Chapter 7: Why was the 'bump video' significant to the investigation?
You know, actually in the closing arguments, the prosecution even had a thing with different, like Spider-Man, like with different, like clones of Spider-Man pulling the finger at each other. And it was sort of a joke in court. And, you know, that's sort of what this has been. Like they're all blaming each other.
So three hours, three hours to find Donna guilty, three hours to find Charlie guilty. Were either of you surprised?
I think I was surprised at both of them, Brad. I thought Charlie would take a little more time.
I thought they both would take more time. I thought Donna would take more time than Charlie, but they really did end up being about the same. And I think the fact that Charlie did take such a short amount of time gave the prosecution even more confidence that they could go after Donna.
Without Charlie's conviction, you could not have gone after Donna, I think.
So I'm curious from both of you, I mean, this has taken a significant chunk of your last decade. Where do you see this going next, knowing what you know about this case?
Well, I think the world of Georgia Kappelman's skills, the prosecutor in Tallahassee, and the post-mortem assembly that she had after Charlie's trial, we were all outside the courtroom there, And she said, and somebody said, is this the end of the prosecution of the Adelson family? And she said, quotably, famously, stay tuned.
And immediately, within a week, I think it was, Brad, we had the indictment of Donna Adelson. This time, she also took a victory lap outside, as was deserved. And Brad, I think you threw the question of, should we stay tuned?
Yeah.
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